Arizona, Hawaii produce madcap nightcap after Florida-Miami

Tom Gatto

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Arizona, Hawaii produce madcap nightcap after Florida-Miami image

If you were worn out from watching Florida vs. Miami and decided you'd seen enough college football for one day, well, you missed a late-night doozy from Honolulu.

Hawaii hosted Arizona in Game 2 of Saturday's FBS Week 0 doubleheader, and it was exactly what you'd expect from a matchup of #MountainWeird and #Pac12AfterDark:

First, the final score: 45-38, Hawaii. Second, the Rainbow Warriors (1-0) clinched the victory by tackling Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate at their 1 as time expired, after Tate had made a 30-yard scramble.

Arizona had barely made it one-touchdown game about four minutes earlier. The Wildcats (0-1) needed four attempts to kick one field goal. They committed three presnap penalties (a delay of game and two false starts) before Lucas Havrisik drilled a 53-yarder.

MORE: Takeaways from Florida's victory over Miami

Other quick hitters from this game:

— The teams combined for 1,134 yards of offense and 58 first downs. 

— Hawaii punted once, in the final minute, which gave Arizona a chance to drive for the tying or winning score.

— Rainbow Warriors receiver Cedric Byrd caught 14 passes for 224 yards and four touchdowns.

— UH quarterback Cole McDonald was benched after throwing four interceptions to go with four passing TDs.

— Tate produced 469 yards of total offense.

Those who stayed (up) felt like champions.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.